Two Very Different Steam Operations - Sunday 1 September 2024

 

No. 8518 at Hinwil
Our first journey today was to Bauma to ride this line to Hinwil on the eastern outskirts of Zurich. From Olten we took a train to Winterthur and changed to the branch line to Bauma. This group operates steam trains over the SBB freight only line to Hinwil once a month. We arrived in just enough time to buy tickets and find a seat. It was a bright sunny day but there must have been a heavy dew because the engine had some difficulty in climbing the steep grade out of Bauma. After that things went well. The countryside was pleasant and there were many people out, some to take pictures of the train. At Neuthal several passengers got out to ride the heritage Post Bus tour. There were two trains running today, we passed the first one returning to Bauma.
Sheep may safely graze


Heritage Post Bus at Neuthal.
As we continued the views opened out towards the Zurichsee (Lake) and we entered the SBB station at Hinwil. The locomotive ran around its train and took water.
The portable ticket booth was doing good business

Ready to depart for Bauma
The half hourly local train for Zurich came in giving a very easy cross platform transfer.
We caught the SBB local back to Zurich HB and transferred to a train for Brugg. 
On making the transfer we saw this 610 in Italian livery

There was also a TGV for Paris in the next platform
At Brugg we waited for the Post Bus to take us out to Schinznach Dorf Baumschule to visit the railway run by a garden centre, This is an enormous business and a two foot gauge railway is part of the operation.
This gives an idea of the size and extent of the operation. The bus stops are on the left hand side. On weekends a steam train service is run every half hour for customers coming to buy plants etc.

Today this tram engine was used for the small number of visitors
 

The cab was quite tidy,

The scenery is quite unusual

The grounds are extensive

We passed through acres of flowering plants

The line enters a greenhouse

Travelling behind steam through a greenhouse/warehouse


The ride was good but it was very hot indeed and we decided to take a break and then catch the Post Bus back to Brugg,
We took cool beers at the Restaurant

Walked out through one of the greenhouses
and out to the bus stop. There is one bus an hour on Sundays. This is a remote country location and there were no other intending passengers. But the bus arrived precisely on time and took us back to Brugg where we caught a train directly back to Olten.












 



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